Painted Claws
by toesalignedarch
Summary: AU. Inuyasha "takes care" of the kids at night when Kagome's away (meaning he watches TV and they play by themselves), but tonight, his usual TV program is interrupted with a strange request. [Originally posted on Tumblr]


A/N: originally posted this on Tumblr, but seeing as how some people liked it (i'm still astonished that it got read by more than 1 person tbh), I decided to put it on here as well! Got inspired to write this a few days ago when I was painting my nails, and then I started wondering what kind of parent Inu would be and this happened. I also did an art piece for this (which is crazy because I am _not_ an artist at all) on my tumblr toesalignedarch, you should go look at it and tell me how you think it is!

* * *

 **Painted Claws**

* * *

His daily television program was interrupted by the pounding of his seven year old daughter's feet as she sprinted from her room to the living area. Sprawled on the couch, his hair spread over the leather in waves of silver, Inuyasha flicked his canine ears to follow the progress of his daughter as she zoomed through the room and into the room designated as the play room. She was back no more than a few seconds later, carefully holding little glass bottles in her small clawed hands.

"Daddy?"

"What?" he asked, not unkindly.

"Can I paint your claws?"

That caught him off guard. He blinked his golden eyes at his daughter, unsure of what to say. Her furry black ears drooped into her raven black hair as the silence dragged on until she mumbled a quiet "never mind," and turned to leave.

His hand shot out and caught her arm before she could bolt. "Oi, Izayoi, what's all this about?" He asked, lifting her up and settling the child in his lap. She giggled and cradled her bottles of nail polish to her chest protectively as they hit against each other in little clinks.

"Mommy says that wearing nail polish makes your nails stronger," Izayoi told her father. She gestured to the bottles in her hand. "We should paint your claws so they don't break!"

To his credit, Inuyasha managed to contain the laughter threatening to burst out of him. Leave it to Kagome to tell the kids such nonsense. Besides, what the hell was nail polish anyway? Judging by the shape of the bottles and the little brushes he could see inside, he guessed it was for painting.

"No need," Inuyasha told his daughter smugly. "My claws ain't gonna break that easily. I don't need none of that crap." One look at her dismayed face and trembling lips, though, and his attitude shifted dramatically. "Or… I mean… I guess it never hurts to be safe, right, Izzy?"

She grinned at her nickname and scampered off his lap. Setting her bottles of nail polish on the coffee table, Izayoi hummed happily to herself and dragged her father into sitting on the floor with her.

"Pick a color!" she demanded giddily. Inuyasha stared at the various shades of pink, purple, blue, and green. None of them looked particularly appealing to him.

"You know what? I don't care. You pick."

It was at that moment that a silver haired boy bolted into the living room, nearly crashing into the coffee table in his haste to not be left out.

"Watch it, squirt!" Inuyasha barked, scooping up his son before he could break the furniture. Kagome would not be happy with him if she came home to splinters everywhere.

"Sorry dad," the boy murmured. Inuyasha let him down, and the young boy crept over to where his older sister had displayed her nail polish. "What's this?"

"I'm going to paint daddy's claws!" Izayoi told Noburo. "Daddy said I could!"

Noburo stared wide-eyed at the assorted bottles. "I want my claws painted too!" he cried.

Oh. Well, that works. "Izzy, why don't ya paint your brother's claws, then? I think he needs it more than I do."

The little girl squealed delightedly and set about choosing the best combination of colors she could produce for her brother. Inuyasha watched proudly as she compared multiple combinations before settling on a forest green, bright red, and white.

"These remind me of mommy," Izayoi explained as she showed Inuyasha the colors she had chosen. "It looks like the picture you and mommy have hanging over your bed!"

"Sure does," Inuyasha commented. "How're ya gonna paint Noburo's claws three different colors? He's only got ten of 'em."

Izayoi shrugged. "We'll see," she said with cheerful finality. After opening up one of the bottles and immediately slamming the cap back on, the three hanyous decided it would be best to acquire gas masks before embarking on the adventure of painting Inuyasha's claws. Even with the mask on, he could still smell the acrid scent of the polish, making his eyes water and his throat dry.

Carefully, Izayoi set about painting thin layers of color over Noburo's claws. To his credit, the boy sat as still as a statue, watching in awe as his claws were painted green, red, and white.

When she was done, she warned her brother not to move for at least twenty minutes or the polish would smear. "And then mommy will be mad at you because it will go everywhere and she will put you in time-out!"

Inuyasha cringed as the younger boy began to wail.

* * *

The next day, Inuyasha pulled up to Noburo's school only to find his son sitting outside the main entrance, his little head cradled in his hands. Alarmed, Inuyasha skidded to a halt and clambered out of the driver's seat as fast as he could.

"Are you okay?"

At the sound of his father's voice, Noburo glanced up and Inuyasha saw tears glistening in the boy's golden eyes. His son held up his painted claws that his sister had so carefully painted and sniffed. "People say this is for girls," he said glumly. "They said… they said that boys aren't allowed to wear this."

That was news to Inuyasha. "Really?"

Noburo nodded and sniffed again. "They said real boys don't wear claw polish."

In his son's defeated posture, Inuyasha saw himself: all those years ago, holding a red ball, looking for a playmate but finding insults and isolation instead. Instinctively, he began to growl. He had tried to hard to make sure his kids would never have to go through the same pain that he did, and yet here was his only son, crying because some idiots decided to pick on the color of his claws. How _dare_ they make fun of his son. How _fucking_ dare they.

"Real men don't wear claw polish, huh?" His growling subsided slightly as an idea formed in his head. "Come on, Noburo. Let's get the fuck out of here."

* * *

He was lucky that his wife's best friend was his son's teacher; he probably wouldn't have been able to do this without an insider. Inside the classroom, he could hear the children whispering about the guest speaker Ms. Sango had told them about. He could hear Sango's footsteps approaching the door to let him into the classroom, so he gave his uniform one last glance. Everything was in place, good.

"Class, say hello to Officer Takahashi!"

Inuyasha smirked at all the brats sitting on a bright blue rug in the middle of the classroom floor. His eyes immediately found Noburo's and he gave his son a quick wink. Whispers began filling the classroom as the children caught site of Inuyasha in his police uniform, complete with shiny badges and all sorts of gadgets strapped to his belt.

"He looks so cool," someone hissed. "I want to be a policeman just like him when I grow up," another kid mumbled.

Sango clapped her hands, gaining the class's attention. "Officer Takahashi has taken time out of his busy schedule to speak with you about a very important topic. Make sure you're respectful of Officer Takahashi, okay?"

With a nod, Sango signaled for Inuyasha to start talking. So he did, taking off his black leather gloves and gesturing enthusiastically with his hands. He smirked internally when the class caught site of his bright pink claws and almost laughed out loud when several of the more rowdy boys in the back blinked in confusion. He could see their trains of thought coming to a halt as they stared at someone who was so obviously a real man and so deserving of their respect yet was wearing nail (or claw, in this particular instance) polish.

By the time he finished talking about what policemen and policewomen do and addressing issues like bullying, he knew no one would ever make fun of Noburo for wearing claw polish ever again.


End file.
